THE GAME
North Carolina Central University enters the weekend winners of four straight looking for more as they welcome in the Eagles of Coppin State University for a Saturday MEAC doubleheader. The maroon and gray have won four of the last five in the series, including last season’s 84-75 victory in Durham, N.C. on Jan. 26, 2013.

THE SERIES
NCCU and Coppin State are meeting for the ninth time since 1976 with the maroon and gray holding on to a 5-3 advantage in the series. In fact, NCCU has won four of the last five meetings dating back to 2008.

SCOUTING REPORT: COPPIN STATE
-Coppin State enters the weekend 6-12 overall, 3-2 in conference play following an 83-71 loss to Norfolk State on the road on Monday, Jan. 20. In that contest, the Eagles shot 39.0 percent from-the-floor, including a 9-for-27 (33.3 percent) from beyond-the-arc. Senior guard Andre Armstrong led Coppin with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting from-the-field that included four three-pointers, along with two rebounds and one assist. Sophomore guard Sterling Smith finished with 13 points despite going 1-for-7 from three-point range, while point guard Taariq Cephas added 10 points in the loss.

-CSU is headed by the legendary coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell who has compiled an illustrious record of 423-409 in 28 seasons at the helm in the Charm City. Mitchell has been in collegiate coaching for 36 years putting together an impressive mark of 650-456. During his time, CSU has made four NCAA Tournament appearances, two NIT appearances, 10 MEAC regular season titles, had 45 student-athletes on the All-MEAC team, along with seven Eagles that have earned MEAC Player of the year honors.

-Coppin State and NCCU have met eight previous times with the maroon and gray Eagles holding a 5-3 lead in the series, including four of the last five matchups.

-CSU has three student-athletes who average double-figures led by 6-5 senior forward Michael Murray who averages 15.0 points a game along with 5.9 rebounds per contest to sit 10th in the MEAC in scoring, and 12th in rebounding. The other two Eagles in double figures are Armstrong (12.6 points per game) and Smith (10.6 points per game), who is fifth in the MEAC in steals (1.6 steals per game) and three-point field goal percentage (38.8 percent, 31-for-80). Sitting fourth in the league in assists, Cephas, averages 3.9 helpers per game, while his teammate junior guard Daquan Brickhouse is tied for 14th dishing out 2.5 assists per game. Brickhouse is also the No. 1 free-throw shooter in the MEAC at 89.6 percent (43-for-48). His teammates, Armstrong (9th-81.4 percent) and Cephas (13th-78.7 percent) reside in the Top-15 in that category as well.

-As a team, Coppin State is currently sixth in the MEAC in scoring offense (69.4 points per game) while sitting 13th in the conference in scoring defense allowing 78.0 points a game. CSU is the league’s top free-throw shooting team at 74.5 percent, just ahead of NCCU (72.0 percent). The Eagles have hit 120 threes this season to tie Florida A&M for second in the league, but sit ninth in the conference in three-point field goal percentage. The maroon and gray have made just 88 threes and have attempted 283, while Coppin State has attempted 388 shots from deep.

-The Eagles pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in the nonconference portion of the schedule as CSU upended the Pac-12 Beavers of Oregon State 78-73 on Nov. 10 in Corvallis, Ore.

NCCU VS. MEAC
Throughout NCCU’s illustrious basketball history, the Eagles have taken on every team in the conference that it helped start back in 1970. NCCU is 286-264 against MEAC opponents all-time.

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
In NCCU’s 84-44 win over arch-rival North Carolina A&T, the Eagle defense slowed the Aggie attack, holding A&T to 10 field goals in the game, shooting 22.7 percent from the field. This was the second-least field goals for an opponent since the Eagles moved to the NCAA Division I level. Here’s a list of the worst shooting performances by NCCU opponents.

BALTIMORE, Md. – After spending the last four weeks on the road, out of the country and in the home state of LeBron James, the Coppin State University men’s basketball team is looking forward to starting a three-game homestand against cross-town rival Towson University Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. inside of the cozy Physical Education Complex.

Nobody would mind if the Eagle players clicked the heels of their sneakers three times and said, “There’s no place like home,” like Diana Ross did while sporting stylish silver high heels in “The Wiz.” The Eagles have played three home games this season and traveled more than 13,000 miles.

The Eagles (4-9 overall) will stay in Baltimore for a while as they begin the first of two season-long three-game homestands. This will be the Eagles first home game since Dec. 11 when they beat UMBC, 91-71. Coppin hosts an 8-6 Towson squad that has lost all five of its road games this season. One of those road losses was at Oregon State, a place where Coppin State won in its second game of the season.

Senior forward Michael Murray led the Eagles to a 64-61 triumph at Towson in last year’s meeting with 15 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Andre Armstrong made four of Coppin State’s 10 3-pointers in the win. This is the fourth year in a row Coppin State and Towson is meeting each other. Although the Tigers lead the series, 6-5, the Eagles have won the last two matchups.

During its 77-66 loss to Akron on New Years Eve, Coppin State was led in scoring by Murray, who scored 19 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the field. Armstrong scored 13 points, senior forward Charles Ieans added 12 points and sophomore guard Sterling Smith contributed 11 points. It was the fourth time this season, Coppin State has had at least four players score in double figures.

Murray and Armstrong have been on fire for the Eagles over their last five games. They have been the team scoring leaders. Murray is averaging 15.5 points during that span. Murray has made at least 50 percent of his shots five times this season. Murray, who led the MEAC in rebounding last season, has pulled down at least four rebounds in seven straight games. Armstrong is averaging 11.8 points. He scored 15 points against Toledo and made four 3-pointers against Akron.

One of Coppin State’s strengths this season has been its free-throw shooting. The Eagles lead the MEAC in free-throw shooting percentage (76.0). Junior guard Taariq Cephas made 36-of-40 (90 percent) of his foul shots, including 22 straight. He is one of four CSU players shooting over 78 percent from the foul line: Daquan Brickhouse (28-for-33, 84.8 percent), Armstrong (37-for-45, 82.2), and Murray (25-for-32, 78.1).

In addition to Murray and Armstrong, sophomore guard Sterling Smith(11.2 points per game) and Cephas (10.4) also average double figures for the Eagles. Smith has made at least one 3-pointer in 11 games this season. He is third in the MEAC in 3-point shooting percentage (42.4 percent). Cephas also leads the Eagles with 54 assists, which is fourth in the conference.

Towson senior Jerrelle Benimon registered his fifth straight double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Tigers to their 12th straight home win, a 72-64 victory against New Hampshire Monday night. Benimon has eight double-doubles on the year and 28 in the last two seasons. He has five 20-point games this season, including two straight. Benimon scored 32 points to fuel the Tigers win over Temple earlier this season.

Also, in the win against New Hampshire, senior Marcus Damas was one of four Tigers in double figures with 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the floor and 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Senior Rafriel Guthrie and sophomore Timajh Parker-Rivera chipped in 10 points each. Senior Mike Burwell added eight points and a career-high nine assists in the win.

Overall for the Tigers, Benimon averages 17.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per contest. Also providing balance for Towson are Guthrie (11.5 points per game) and Damas (11.1). Towson averages 73.1 points per game.

Coppin State enjoys a week off before focusing exclusively on MEAC competition when it meets Savannah State on Jan. 11 at 4 p.m.

BALTIMORE, Md. – Fresh off of a four-day break to enjoy the Christmas holiday, the Coppin State men’s basketball team returned to practice Thursday to start preparations for a difficult trip to Ohio to meet Mid-American Conference schools Toledo and Akron.

The Eagles (4-7 overall) face undefeated Toledo (11-0) in a Saturday matinee at Savage Arena beginning at 2:00 p.m. This is the fourth stop on a season-high five-game road trip for Coppin State. The Eagles lost a pair of games last weekend at the BVI Tropical Shootout in the British, Virgin Islands to Southern Mississippi (88-74) and Jacksonville State (72-61).

Coppin State has never lost to Toledo, winning both meetings against the Rockets, 77-73 in overtime (1989) and 87-66 (1990). Overall, Coppin State is 5-6 all-time against schools from the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles aren’t approaching this game any differently because Toledo is one of nine NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams without a loss.

“We don’t look at this game any differently than we would any other one,” Coppin State head coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell said. “It’s the biggest game of the year because it’s our next one. For us it doesn’t matter who the opponent is because you’re out there to win the game. My guys know that if we don’t play hard and execute that we could have some problems.”

Coppin State senior forward Michael Murray averaged 18 points per game in both games last weekend. He scored a team-high 23 points against Southern Mississippi. Murray has led CSU in scoring in its last five games. In the two games against Southern Miss and Jacksonville State, Murray shot 52 percent (13 for 25). Overall, for the season, Murray is one of three Coppin State players averaging double figures. He leads the team in scoring with a 15.7 point per game average.

Also averaging double figures for the Eagles are sophomore guard Sterling Smith (12.3 points per game) and junior guard Taariq Cephas (11.5). Smith has scored in double figures seven times this season for the Eagles. He had a season-high 21 points to fuel Coppin State’s upset of Oregon State on Nov. 10. Cephas leads the Eagles with 49 assists. He had his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 assists against Delaware State on Dec. 7.

Cephas is also one of the best foul shooters in the nation as he has made 36-of-40 free throws, including 22 straight. His 90 percent success rate leads from the charity stripe the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. He was 10-for-10 from the foul line against UMBC on Dec. 11. Junior guard Daquan Brickhouse is fourth in the MEAC in free-throw percentage as he has made 24-of-29 free throws (82.8 percent).

During its two games in the British Virgin Islands, Coppin State averaged 28 free-throw attempts per game. The Eagles are ranked 21st nationally in free-throw shooting percentage. Senior guard Andre Armstrongaveraged 9.5 points per game in the two games and was 9-for-10 from the foul line against Southern Mississippi.

Meanwhile, Toledo is 11-0 for the first time since the 1966-67 season following its 71-67 victory over Cleveland State last Saturday. Toledo junior J.D. Weatherspoon scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the win for the Rockets, who are the first MAC school to be 11-0 since Ball State in 1998-99. Joining Weatherspoon in double digits was sophomore center Nathan Boothe (14 pts., 8 reb.) and senior guard Rian Pearson (11 pts., 5 reb.).

In addition to moving up into the No. 3 spot in CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Poll rankings, the Rockets received considerable support in this week’s Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls. UT received 27 points in the Associated Press Poll, 24 more than last week’s total and received 13 points in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll.

All five of Toledo’s starters are averaging in double figures in the scoring column, led by senior Pearson at 16.1 ppg. He is followed by junior guard Justin Drummond (14.9 ppg), junior guard Julius Brown (12.8 ppg), Weatherspoon (11.3 ppg) and Boothe (10.7 ppg).

Coppin State concludes its five-game road trip with a matchup Tuesday against Akron beginning at 6 p.m.